Hello Kitty Detonation: Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 11 recap

Aug. 27, 2013

AMC

Written by

Setareh Baig

Arts & Culture Editor @heysetareh_

By now it should be clear that Walter White is an expert emotional manipulator. He someone gets Jesse to exhibits such an insane amount of Stockholm Syndrome that he still protects Walt, despite how much Walt ruined his life. That is, until Jesse finally detonates and decided to become a raging arsonist. It was probably that Hello Kitty cell phone that really set him off.

Walt doesn't abuse people by violence or physical coercion; he crafts his abuse in such a way that will make the people who cross him become their own downfall. None of the times Walt wrecks havoc on someone will it ever get back to him. (Recall the time Skyler called the police on him to get him out of the house, and the police couldn’t arrest him because he technically didn’t do anything wrong.) Walter’s evil genius tendencies don’t only apply to manipulating chemical compounds but also to manipulating everyone around him.

This is a consistent theme for Walter— when Hank refuses to give up his prosecution of Heisenberg, Walt resorts to blackmailing Hank by giving a confession. Vince Gilligan makes us think that Walt is finally giving himself up, but watchers quickly learn that Walt only made a confession video to blame Hank for being Heisenberg. His fabricated story works so well it’s as if Walter was planning to blame Hank for all along—the fact that Walt paid for Hank’s medical expenses seems to have been done on purpose for the sole reason of framing Hank.

This devious manipulation is also evident when Walt finds out that Walt Jr. is going to Marie’s—he confesses to Walt Jr. about his cancer not at all because Walt Jr. has the right to know, but just so his son doesn’t get lured away by Hank and Marie. The meth business was supposed to be all for his family, so it’s ironic that now all Walt does is use his family as merely pawns in his grand schemes.

However, the person who has dealt with the most of Walter’s abuse is Jesse. Walter has literally stripped Jesse of everything he ever loved, from Jane, to Brock and now Mike. Though Jesse is now totally hollow, it was far too long since Jesse’s last heartbreaking emotional breakdown:

“Ever since I met you, everything I ever cared about is gone! Ruined, turned to sh*t, dead, ever since I hooked up with the great Heisenberg! I have never been more alone! I HAVE NOTHING! NO ONE! ALRIGHT, IT'S ALL GONE, GET IT? No, no, no, why…Why would you get it? What do you even care, as long as you get what you want, right? You don't give a sh*t about me!”

So when Walt tries to convince Jesse to change identities for “his own safety,” maybe a few seasons ago people would believe Walt was being sincere. Now, it’s hard to watch without rolling your eyes at Walt, and even Jesse sees right through his sinister manipulation:

“Could you just stop working me for like, ten seconds straight? You’re acting like me leaving town is about me throwing millions of dollars away. It’s really about you. You need me gone because your dickhead brother-in-law is never going to let up. Just say so. Just ask me for a favor. Just tell me you don’t give a shit about me and it’s either this or you’ll kill me the same way you killed Mike. I mean, isn’t this what this is all about? Us meeting all the way out here in case I say no? Go on. Just tell me you need this.”

Yet what does Jesse do literally right after saying this? He accepts Walter’s hug with open arms, completely defeated. Walt has terrorized Jesse’s life in the worst ways possible and Jesse is fully aware of it, yet he still always came back to Walt no matter what. He still doesn’t give Walter up to the DEA when he has the chance and ultimately still has Walter’s back time and time again when he knows that Walt could honestly care less about him. This is the way Walt likes it. Stockholm Syndrome at its finest.

At least this is the case until the return of the ricin debacle. Jesse was burned far too many times, and now Walt has ignited a spark in Jesse to literally set Walt’s entire house on fire. When Jesse finds out that Walt made Saul lift the ricin from his pocket, he mistakenly connects that Walt poisoned Brock with the ricin (remember that Walt used the Lily of the Valley plant to poison Brock, not the ricin). Regardless, this is enough to finally snap Jesse the same way that Hank has snapped.

People have been waiting for the moment for quite some time when Jesse finally figures out that Walt was the one to poison Brock, and Aaron Paul again masterfully portrayed the severity of the moment; you actually can feel his chest drop at the revelation. In just a moment, his desolate sadness transforms into a visceral rage. Nothing at this point matters for him except for revenge, no matter how much he destroys himself in the process.

Jesse already figured Walt killed Hank, and it’s not long until he puts the pieces together about Jane. By now, it’s not far-fetched to assume that Jesse joined the ranks with Hank to officially be hell-bent on taking down the great Heisenberg. Yet again, Walt drives Jesse to destroy himself by trying to destroy Walt. However, like Mike, Jesse has officially gotten in Walt’s way. If you know Walt at all, you can probably recognize what that means for our dear Jesse.